The trial of a 29-year-old Colchester man who faces child grooming charges after allegedly being caught by a vigilante sting operation will take place in September next year.

Before Ipswich Crown Court on Tuesday (September 21) for a plea and trial preparation hearing was Lewis Humm, of Francis Way, Colchester.

He pleaded not guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a person he believed to be a girl under 16 between September 1, 2017, and October 7, 2017, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.

He also denied three offences of making indecent images of children and one offence of possessing extreme pornographic images.

The alleged indecent images charges relate to one still and one movie in the most serious level A category, one still image and two movies in category B and three still images and two movies in the lowest level C category.

A further case management hearing will take place on March 4 next year with Humm’s trial, which is expected to last five days, starting on September 26 next year.

Humm is on unconditional bail.